DUTA protests against the system - For and Against!

DUTA protests against the system - For and Against!

The new USG norms agitated the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) beyond control and they took to streets to stage protest against the entire system and the government for introducing new and unnecessary changes under the amendment to the USG norms. They have altogether refused to evaluate the undergraduate examinations and yet nothing has been done so far.

The amendments to UGC regulations will lead to job-cuts to at least 50 per cent and there will be a hasty decrease in the number of teachers as the number of students soar up. The teachers are determined to make the HRD ministry roll back the new gazette notification that contains criteria to determine the academic performance.

There is delay in results which will make the students suffer. But the teachers are calling their protest ‘Satyagraha’ and refusing to bow down until their demands are fulfilled. Thousands of students have their future at stake while teachers claim that their jobs are at stake.

For:

1. Increased workload: The new gazette notification is said to be notorious for increasing the workload of assistant professors from 16 hours of direct teaching per week which also includes tutorials to 18 hours. In addition to this, there is to be another six hours of tutorials which brings the work hour to 24 hours. The work hours of associate professors have also been increased from 14 hours to 22. This increased workload will be stressful for teachers who barely manage recreation and stress relief hours.

2. Drastic changes: Teachers are tired of adjusting to constant changes in the number of course structure, curriculum, grading system and introduction of new ground rules for permanent teachers and ad hoc teachers. In the last academic session, DU had three different courses during the three-year undergraduate course with three different types of marking system that literally befuddled the teachers. There were drastic system changes from semester to four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) and then to choice-based credit system (CBCS).

3. Ad hoc teacher’s agitation: Government policies over the past few years have been a treachery to ad hoc teachers who were awaiting permanency. Even after seven to eight years of teaching these teachers have not become permanent. Due to this the permanent teachers who have worked for more than 10 or 15 years at DU have never received promotion which can be very discouraging for the permanent faculty and for the ad hoc teachers who believe that their job has always been at stake with little to no assurance from the administration. Further changes and norms were bound to agitate them.

4. Excluding tutorials: The new guidelines have made tutorials optional and outside direct teaching hours. Tutorials were earlier a part of direct teaching hours while now it is being predicted that around 5000 ad hoc teachers would become jobless and in many departments the faculty would become surplus. Tutorials are important for students of underprivileged communities who have difficulty following the lectures along with the other students. This would affect the overall performance of the students which is being totally ignored by DU.

5. Unemployment: The young and qualified ad hoc teachers would be at the edge of being jobless. They have the credentials of MA/MSc, MPhil and PhD. They are definitely going to be overqualified for the other jobs while being unemployed at the one place they fit well. Some of them have quality publications to their names while the others have even authored books. DU is a place full of excellently qualified faculty and it would be such a loss to leave them unemployed.

6. The bigger frame:There has been about 50 per cent deduction in the education sector. While the government is keen on providing more aid to higher education in the private sector, the public sector seems to be suffering the wrath of it. Now that 5000 ad hoc teachers are about to lose their jobs according to the new gazette notification norms, it is to be noted that these temporary teachers are the ones who were responsible for the evaluation of examination. It would be difficult for teachers to evaluate the papers without the help of ad hoc teachers. How can they ask the ad hoc teachers to evaluate the university scripts when they are no longer employed at the university?

Against:

1. Unjust to the students: Shunning evaluation of examination is an unethical method of protest which was never expected from teachers who are supposed to be the guiding light of the nation’s future. Staging protest for their rights could be justified but at the expense of thousands of student’s future is a real bad idea that is leading to injustice against students who worked hard and took the examination despite several changes being introduced in the courses each year. Teachers are supposed to lead students with examples but these kind of example are bound of have negative effect.

2. New admissions would suffer: It is that time of the year when new admission are about to begin for the fresh year undergraduate program. Protests by teachers at this time would affect the admission process for students who are already troubled going through all the verification processes with the help of the faculty. Without the help of the faculty, the students would be left clueless and stressed with all the confusion going on at the University. Teachers are agitated over the government’s decisions. Their protests should be directed against the system while ensuring that the student’s future doesn’t get affected in between.

Without the protest and pressure from the students as well as the teachers it would have been difficult to get the message across to the government. Barring evaluation of final year examination scripts is an effective way to get their demands fulfilled but at the same time the additional stress on students is a bad approach.

Recent news reports that the DUTA have ended the evaluation boycott but only for the final year students since their future was at stake. Setting a good example, the teachers association has proved that they are more responsible than the HRD ministry of the country and are actually worried about the students being agitated over their clash with the government.